Immigration debate heats up in governer’s race

Governor

(AP) Barnett, Sebelius spar over immigration; bishops weigh in: Republican challenger Jim Barnett said Thursday that Gov. Kathleen Sebelius has changed her position on sending Kansas National Guard troops to the Mexican border, but she accused him of misleading voters. Meanwhile, Kansas bishops for the Episcopal, United Methodist and Evangelical Lutheran churches expressed concern about the tone of the debate over immigration. While not blaming candidates, Methodist Bishop Scott Jameson Jones said he sees "an undercurrent of racism in Kansas."

(Topeka Capital-Journal) Barnett's first TV ad focuses on immigration: Two months behind and trailing in the polls -- sometimes badly -- Republican gubernatorial hopeful Jim Barnett this week rolled out his first television commercial. And the senator from Emporia came out swinging. Barnett criticized Gov. Kathleen Sebelius for supporting a failed 2003 proposal that would have offered driver's licenses to illegal immigrants and for her veto that same year of a measure that would have required voters to show a photo ID as they go to the polls.

Attorney General

(AP) Kline to push for funeral picketing bill: Atty. Gen. Phill Kline promised Thursday to renew the push for new state restrictions on funeral picketing, and he's supporting a federal proposal to prevent what he calls a "shakedown" when such laws are challenged in court. ... Kline, locked in a close re-election race, has been criticized by Democratic challenger Paul Morrison, the Johnson County district attorney, about a $500 contribution Kline received in October 2002 from a member of the Phelps family. Kline has said he didn't know the donor was connected to Westboro Baptist, and he subsequently donated the same amount to the Patriot Guard, a group that protests against the Phelpses.